


No Rest for the Living

by not_a_duccc



Category: Mother 4, Oddity (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Beating, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Character Death In Dream, Domestic Violence, Dream Sequence, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Low Self-Esteem
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:20:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_a_duccc/pseuds/not_a_duccc
Summary: Various dream sequences that cover the fears and insecurities of the Oddity gang. Please read the tags for warnings on anything you might be sensitive to.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Travis

Travis sat at the kitchen table, eating cereal with a somewhat glum expression. The rest of his family is sitting around him at the table, eating other breakfast items such as bacon, eggs, and the like. “Yo bro,” said Zack, handing him a strip of bacon, “you want some of mine?” Before Travis could answer, his mother swatted the food out of Zack’s hand. “Don’t even think about it,” she said, “he has to cook his own food till he becomes even half the man you are.” Travis looks down at his bowl, embarrassed. “I- I started playing baseball, like Zack used to do,” Travis said. Travis’s father slammed his fist on the table, “Yeah, USED TO,” he said. “There’s a reason he stopped playing. Why don’t you play a real man’s sport, like football!? Why can’t you be more like your brother!? You’re nothing but a failure compared to him!” Travis' father kept chanting “failure,” over and over again, with his mother chanting with him. 

Travis kept looking down at his bowl of cereal. He started crying. The word failure repeated in his mind over and over again. When he looked up, his parents were gone, along with the whole kitchen and table. All that was left was him in a chair in a black void, Zack standing in front of him staring at him with lifeless eyes. Standing next to him was the Modern Men, his hand on Zack’s shoulder and just as still and lifeless as he was. “Mom and dad were right,” Zack said, “you are a failure.” Travis got up in his chair and walked towards Zack, his cheeks still stained with tears. He couldn’t help but hug Zack, crying into his sweater. “I’m sorry,” he said in between sniffles, “I'm sorry I couldn’t save you…” “Save me,” Zack said in a distorted voice, “What are you talking about? I’ve never felt better!” Travis lifted his face up. Zack was wearing a dark blue business suit covered in shining stars, his eyes were now gapping voids, as if windows into space, and he had a wide, toothy, almost unhinged smile. Travis let go of his brother, backing away in fear before stumbling and falling to the ground. One by one, all of Zack’s teeth fell out, with a dark blue, star studded liquid pouring from his mouth like a waterfall. The ooze seemed to infect all of Travis’ surroundings, turning the black void into the endless expanse of space.

Travis struggled to breathe. The cold and empty expanse of space started to claim in as he clasped his neck, begging for any air. Zack and the Modern Man stayed where they were, Zack still with his wide, now toothless smile. Travis could hear the voices of his parents, still chanting failure as they were earlier. Now Zack’s voice was chanting with them. That’s all he could ever view himself as. A failure. He failed to live up to his parents expectations, he failed to save his brother, and he would fail in saving the world. 

Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. 

Travis woke up in a cold sweat, grabbing onto the rim of his sleeping bag. He was in a tent in the camp he set up with his friends, all of them still sleeping. Travis was breathing heavily, trying to recall what happened in his dream. His mind primarily turned to his missing brother, that was the reason he started his adventure after all. He had come so far since he first gained his powers. He had gone from lifting small objects and creating barriers to tossing boulders, reading minds, and creating reflective barriers. He and his friends have already taken down several of the Modern Men, proving they were more than capable of defending themselves. This helped reassure him a bit, they were strong enough to take down multiple of these interdimensional suits, surely they could take down a few more if it meant saving his family, right? Yeah, sure he could. He was ready for anything, and as long as he had his friends by his side, he felt safe, he knew they could do it.

For once, Travis didn’t feel like a failure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be the only one that ends on a somewhat positive note, it's all down hill from here.


	2. Meryl

Meryl stood in a dark hallway, with walls so narrow she could barely walk down the hall without her arms scraping against the rugged wall. The hall seemed to stretch on forever, and despite the light at the end of it, there seemed to be no end in sight. After what felt like hours, Meryl made it to the end of the hall, entering a small kitchen. Something about it seemed familiar, unlocking long repressed memories she had chosen to lock away. In front of her was a tall, decently built man, cooking something on the stove top.

The man turned around, it was Meryl’s father. He lacked eyes, and his face was extremely disfigured, as if it had been bludgeoned for an extended period of time. Meryl was terrified, covering her mouth in shock as she backed away. Her father had an oddly cheery disposition, “Hey Meryl,” he said, “you’re just in time for dinner!” From the left of the room, a woman entered the room, her body completely charred black. At first, Meryl didn’t recognize her, but her voice lit a spark in her memories.

“Aw, there you are my purple princess!”

It was Meryl’s mother.

She sat down at the kitchen table, which was already lined with full plates. Despite still being in shock, Meryl decided to sit down at the table. Her father carried a pan, still sizzling with the steaks he cooked. He laid down steaks for Meryl, his wife, and himself, putting the pan in the sink. Meryl turned to her mother, tears streaming down her face. She grabbed her hand and asked, “Mom… is that really you?” Her mother seemed confused, “Of course it’s me,” she said, “why wouldn’t it be?” Meryl let go of her mother’s hand and looked down at her own, it was stained black. “I… I saw you die…” Meryl said, to which her mother simply replied, “I know.”

Meryl’s father interrupted his family, “Alright dears, we’ll talk about this after we say grace,” he said. Meryl’s mother brushed him off, “Oh come now Harold, we can go without grace for just one night. Afterall, we have a lot to catch up on.” The father snapped, slamming his fist into the table, “No, we cannot go without grace! Do you want the lord’s wrath to rain down on us!?” He threw his plate at his wife, causing a hole that goes straight through her body. Because of the weakened support on the rest of her body, she collapses into ash. Meryl screams as she watches in horror. 

Her father turns to her, yelling as he points towards the pile of ash that used to be her mother. “This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you! You did this to her! And look at what you did to me! This is all your fault!” Meryl got out of her seat and started to back away, in response her father grabbed the pan from the sink and started swinging wildly. Meryl ran back down the hall where she came from as her father chased after her. The building around her burst into flames, but she still kept running, with her father still chasing. The halls kept getting narrower the farther she went, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t activate her powers to try and defend herself. Eventually the halls got so narrow that she could barely move, she was practically stuck, and yet there was still no end in sight. Eventually she could no longer move, and her father would eventually catch up. Despite the cramped space, Meryl’s father still found a way to swing his pan, striking her daughter directly on the head.

Meryl could feel her skull crack open, almost like a twig snapping under the force of a foot. She could feel the blood rushing down her face, dripping down to the floor. She expected to be knocked out immediately, but she had no choice but to stand there powerless as the life slowly drained from her. As she drifted off into the afterlife, she could faintly hear her father say, “How does it feel to be on the receiving end?” Before Meryl could even try to muster up the energy to respond, she took another blow to the head.

Meryl woke up screaming and sweating, clenching her fist so hard that her fingernails began to dig into her flesh. Somehow, she didn’t wake anyone up, even as she panted from the exhaustion she felt from the dream. Meryl took a moment to look at her sleeping friends. Even though she had only met them recently, they had effectively become family to her, and she couldn’t bear to let anyone harm them. At the same time, however, she felt she was the most likely to harm them. Meryl often had outbursts that led her to lose control of her powers, who's to say she wouldn’t blow up on her friends eventually? 

Though she wanted to believe her will was stronger than that, Meryl could only view herself as a ticking time bomb.


	3. Floyd

Travis and Floyd sat next to each other on a cliff side, watching the moon shine in the sky. Floyd had asked him to meet him here after they had finished setting up camp, leaving Meryl and Leo to their own. Travis’ gazes off into the distance, eyes on the moon, lost in his own thoughts. Floyd took the opportunity to scooch closer to Travis, allowing their legs to touch, and for him to rest his head on Travis’ shoulder. This knocked Travis out of his trance, and made him scooch away nervously. Floyd turned away from him in embarrassment, but he eventually worked up the courage to say what he wanted to say.

“Hey, Travis?”

“Hm? Oh, what do you want?”

“I- well… we’ve been traveling together for a while and…”

“Mhm?”

“I mean… we’ve been friends for so long and… I don’t know, I was hoping we could be something more?”

“What, like boyfriends?”

“I- I mean yeah… I know it sounds weird, but its how I feel! I don’t really like girls, or at least I’ve never felt the way I’m supposed to with them. With you though, it’s different. You make me feel the happiest I’ve ever been, you’re the only one who understands me, I- I get all nervous around you like you’re supposed to with girls. I… I love you.”

When Floyd finished, Travis turned his head back to the moon. He appeared to be in deep thought. Floyd watched him nervously, waiting for any kind of response. He looked back to the sky. The stars were gone, and it was pitch back, the only thing illuminating was the moon. Travis started laughing, starting with a low chuckle before ascending into hysterical cackling. In an instant his head turned to Floyd, making a distinct cracking sound. His laughter stopped, his eyes seemed lifeless, and he had an unhinged smile. His voice became distorted.

“Who the hell could love a queer like you?”

“I- I-”

“No one! Not even your own parents love you. That’s why you ran away, isn’t it? You ran like the sissy you are. That’s all you can ever do, cause no one will ever love you when they know what you are.”

“That- that- that’s not true!”

A third voice joined the conversation. “Oh hush ya queer,” it said, “you know he’s right.” Floyd looked behind him, only to see a man with jeans, a red flannel, and a blue and white cap. He carried a black belt with him. It was his father. “Do you know why you have those scars on ya boy,” he asked. Floyd got up and nervously backed away, trying not to lose his balance and fall off the cliff. His father slowly approached him, his eyes full of malice.

“It’s cause I put them there boy!” his father yelled, snapping his belt, “You know that people like you aren’t welcome here, or anywhere else.”

“But what’s wrong with me!? What’s the problem with how I feel!? I love him! My feelings aren’t hurting anyone!”

“My boy, my boy, what you don’t understand is that what you're feeling, just ain’t natural. Why don’t you look at your friend’s over there?” Floyd stopped to look around. Where Travis was he now stood embracing Meryl. They stared lovingly into each other's eyes, closing them as their lips met for a soft kiss. Floyd’s heart sunk. “See, this is what normal looks like, got it,” Floyd’s father said, still approaching him.

Floyd was in full panic mode, breathing faster than he could think, breaking into full sprint away from his father. Tears were streaming down his face, causing him to choke up as he was running. He had his head down the entire time, if he didn’t he wouldn’t have bumped into his father, causing him to fall to the ground. His father stared down at him, while Floyd could only cower in the fetal position. “This is what faggots like you get,” Floyd’s father remarked before brandishing his belt. Floyd wouldn’t fight back, he couldn’t fight back, he was paralyzed by fear. All he could do was let his father continually beat him, tears streaming down on his face as he continually said “I’m sorry” under his breath. The blistering pain made him choke on his tears, his mind became hazy, he couldn’t even find the strength to continue speaking. All he could was sit there and take it.

Floyd woke up, breathing heavily and looking around frantically to make sure he wasn’t still dreaming. He tried to collect himself, he was still in the tent they had set up at camp. On his left he saw Leo, snoring into his pillow. On his right, he saw Travis and Meryl, sleeping as sound as could be. Travis nested his head into Meryl’s hair, and Meryl had nested into Travis’. He reached his hand through his shirt to touch his back, he could still feel his scars.

He laid back down, resting his head on his pillow as he cried himself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I'll do a Leo chapter cause I don't have any good ideas.


End file.
